Summer Smith (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
somethingwithturquoise) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
fandomhigh2022-01-04 03:52 am
somethingwithturquoise) wrote in fandomhigh2022-01-04 03:52 am
Rage Against the Machine: Etc, Etc, Etc; Tuesday, Second Period [01/04].
This class would definitely be utilizing the Danger Shop a lot, and that was where they would be meeting probably for every session, but this week, it was set up like just any old ordinary classroom, because that would never not be funny to Summer and they really didn't need much else this week. She grinned a little as she leaned on the desk at the front of the fake-real-classroom as people filed in and found a seat, and then glanced down at her watch for a moment until it ticked just a little past the start of the period, and then clapped her hands together and pushed herself up.
"All right!" she said. "Let's gooooo! So! This is Rage Against the Machine: How to Dismantle and Destroy Bogus Galactic Empires and Look Cute Doing It, a title that was, apparently, 'too long,'" and, yes, that was getting air quotes and a roll of her eyes, "for official doccuments and Subject Bars, but, whatever, you get the point. My name is Summer Smith, I'll be your teacher, and basically what we're going to be doing in this class is breaking down the essentials of what it's like to be a part of a Bad Ass Revolution against a Big Evil Bad Guy, usually in Galactic or Corportate form, to better prepare you for the sometimes very real world even of such bogus takeovers and assaults. Or just to have an excuse to do cool shit and blow things up. Whatever floats your boat. It's definitely one of those 'I really hope the stuff in this class is stuff you never actually have to use, but hope you're really glad you took it if you ever do' sort of situations right here.
"And, those of you who don't know me yet," also? Side note? Kinda stoked that there were a decent handful of unfamiliar names on her rosters, be-tee-DUBS, "you may be wondering, 'well, why the hell should I listen to this total rando?' Well! I'm glad you asked!"
Here, Summer turned around to pull down one of those old-timey rolly things for projectors, only instead of a blank space, there was a diagram on it. "This," where did she get a pointer? Magic of the Danger Shop, my friends! But she smacked it on the first picture, which had the face of a bug like alien drawn onto it with a big red X through it, "is my first Galactic Empire, the Galactic Federation, which we took down by transporting their space super jail into a Citadel run by various different versions of my grampa from different dimensions and then crashing their economy by turning changing their money from a one to a zero."
The pointed moved to the next picture, which appeared to be a pair of blue jeans, also with an X through it. "And this was my most recent one, which was when the Galactic Federation had a resurgance and became the New, Supposedly Improved Galactic Federation, and they were going around blowing up whole planets with a super weapon, but, thankfully, they got into bed with corportate sponsorship, which is never a good idea, kids, so all I had to do was open a portal to a denim dimension and that took care of that nonsense.
"Next!" The pointer smacked on something that might look like a moon, but, no, it was definitely a space station, and instead of a red X marking it, it instead had a Question Mark. "This is the Empire I was fighting against a few years ago, where I was helping with information and weapons running through a front as a space jello cantina on a major-city planet. I have a question mark on this one, because, unfortunately, shit got real and I had to bust out of there, and I haven't been able to get back to that universe because I blew up a good chunk of aforementioned space city and have a bounty on my head out there. It's...probably lessened some steam, to be honest, but my grampa also perma-blocked me from that dimension, so that's a whole thing as well. But, that said, I'm pretty sure the revolution in that dimension does go fairly well because that takes us toooooo....."
She smacked again on the last of the four big ones, which just had a big circle around some spaceships. "This is the rebellion going on in a different version of that dimension, one where the previously mentioned Empire has made another ressurgance, calling themselves the First Order. Now, I would looooooove to go blow up some spaceship and First Order bases and get a bounty on my head in that dimension, too, but this one's sort of my friend Rey's deal, and they have a whole thing going on that I don't want to mess up, but she knows, if she needs some dirty work done, she's got me on deck, and, in the meantime, I'm going to teach you guys about it anyway.
"Also, there was this one time," she tapped the pointed on a smaller picture that had some sort of weapons-pimped out mega-vehicle on it, "I fought my way uo the ranks of a maurading band of ruthless raiders in a mutant-infested apocalypse and basically became their queen, and another time," to the next picture, which had a rough sketch of a person flailing under something really nasty clinging to its face, "I became the God-Empress of an evolving society of face-hugging parasite aliens, so I do have some experience on the flip-side of this Empire stuff, too, and then this one," she tapped the last picture, which just had the face of a bearded glowing white guy with a red X through him, "doesn't really have to do with empires and shit, I just wanted to mention the one time I got so high that I killed God," a God, Summer, he was just a God, "by flying a spaceship into his eye, just so you guys have a real good idea of what you're dealing with when it comes to me."
Because the rest of it so far, apparently, hadn't been enough of a ride.
"Anyhooooooo," she said, turning back to the students with a bright grin, "enough about meeee! It's time to talk about you guys! Now, it's the first week, and usually that means a million gagillion introductions, but honestly? I want to do something a little different with this class, because one of the most important things about this class is that, for this to work, you need a team. No man is an island, and all that shit, and so from this point on, you guys work together? None of this rogue I work by myself shit, that's a good way to make sure I get you shot in every class, got it? Because through almost all of that," she gestured toward the diagram, "the one thing that made the difference wa that I had a team. I had a support base. Even the God one, like, that was followed by a really bad trip and I would have totally lost it if I hadn't had someone to bring me back down from it. SO, like it or not, this is your team for this class going forward, and if you're going to be a team, you've got to get to know each other.
"So instead of standard introductions, I just want you guys to talk with each other. I want you to talk to at least three other people, preferably more, and I want you to come out of it knowing at least four things: their name, where they're from, any strengths they can bring to the table, and what weaknesses they may have. I know that last one might be the hardest for most people; it's hard to acknowledge that we have weaknesses, but it's something that can make the difference between a success and a failure, and we all have them, one way or another. I, for example," she offered, hand to her chest in this very powerful moment of vulnerability, "cannot pull off green to save my life or without looking like a goddamn Christmas tree.
"So there you go. At the end of class, we'll have a little pow-wow and share what we've learned about each other, and then, next week, we'll start getting into the good stuff and hopefully putting those things to use."
"All right!" she said. "Let's gooooo! So! This is Rage Against the Machine: How to Dismantle and Destroy Bogus Galactic Empires and Look Cute Doing It, a title that was, apparently, 'too long,'" and, yes, that was getting air quotes and a roll of her eyes, "for official doccuments and Subject Bars, but, whatever, you get the point. My name is Summer Smith, I'll be your teacher, and basically what we're going to be doing in this class is breaking down the essentials of what it's like to be a part of a Bad Ass Revolution against a Big Evil Bad Guy, usually in Galactic or Corportate form, to better prepare you for the sometimes very real world even of such bogus takeovers and assaults. Or just to have an excuse to do cool shit and blow things up. Whatever floats your boat. It's definitely one of those 'I really hope the stuff in this class is stuff you never actually have to use, but hope you're really glad you took it if you ever do' sort of situations right here.
"And, those of you who don't know me yet," also? Side note? Kinda stoked that there were a decent handful of unfamiliar names on her rosters, be-tee-DUBS, "you may be wondering, 'well, why the hell should I listen to this total rando?' Well! I'm glad you asked!"
Here, Summer turned around to pull down one of those old-timey rolly things for projectors, only instead of a blank space, there was a diagram on it. "This," where did she get a pointer? Magic of the Danger Shop, my friends! But she smacked it on the first picture, which had the face of a bug like alien drawn onto it with a big red X through it, "is my first Galactic Empire, the Galactic Federation, which we took down by transporting their space super jail into a Citadel run by various different versions of my grampa from different dimensions and then crashing their economy by turning changing their money from a one to a zero."
The pointed moved to the next picture, which appeared to be a pair of blue jeans, also with an X through it. "And this was my most recent one, which was when the Galactic Federation had a resurgance and became the New, Supposedly Improved Galactic Federation, and they were going around blowing up whole planets with a super weapon, but, thankfully, they got into bed with corportate sponsorship, which is never a good idea, kids, so all I had to do was open a portal to a denim dimension and that took care of that nonsense.
"Next!" The pointer smacked on something that might look like a moon, but, no, it was definitely a space station, and instead of a red X marking it, it instead had a Question Mark. "This is the Empire I was fighting against a few years ago, where I was helping with information and weapons running through a front as a space jello cantina on a major-city planet. I have a question mark on this one, because, unfortunately, shit got real and I had to bust out of there, and I haven't been able to get back to that universe because I blew up a good chunk of aforementioned space city and have a bounty on my head out there. It's...probably lessened some steam, to be honest, but my grampa also perma-blocked me from that dimension, so that's a whole thing as well. But, that said, I'm pretty sure the revolution in that dimension does go fairly well because that takes us toooooo....."
She smacked again on the last of the four big ones, which just had a big circle around some spaceships. "This is the rebellion going on in a different version of that dimension, one where the previously mentioned Empire has made another ressurgance, calling themselves the First Order. Now, I would looooooove to go blow up some spaceship and First Order bases and get a bounty on my head in that dimension, too, but this one's sort of my friend Rey's deal, and they have a whole thing going on that I don't want to mess up, but she knows, if she needs some dirty work done, she's got me on deck, and, in the meantime, I'm going to teach you guys about it anyway.
"Also, there was this one time," she tapped the pointed on a smaller picture that had some sort of weapons-pimped out mega-vehicle on it, "I fought my way uo the ranks of a maurading band of ruthless raiders in a mutant-infested apocalypse and basically became their queen, and another time," to the next picture, which had a rough sketch of a person flailing under something really nasty clinging to its face, "I became the God-Empress of an evolving society of face-hugging parasite aliens, so I do have some experience on the flip-side of this Empire stuff, too, and then this one," she tapped the last picture, which just had the face of a bearded glowing white guy with a red X through him, "doesn't really have to do with empires and shit, I just wanted to mention the one time I got so high that I killed God," a God, Summer, he was just a God, "by flying a spaceship into his eye, just so you guys have a real good idea of what you're dealing with when it comes to me."
Because the rest of it so far, apparently, hadn't been enough of a ride.
"Anyhooooooo," she said, turning back to the students with a bright grin, "enough about meeee! It's time to talk about you guys! Now, it's the first week, and usually that means a million gagillion introductions, but honestly? I want to do something a little different with this class, because one of the most important things about this class is that, for this to work, you need a team. No man is an island, and all that shit, and so from this point on, you guys work together? None of this rogue I work by myself shit, that's a good way to make sure I get you shot in every class, got it? Because through almost all of that," she gestured toward the diagram, "the one thing that made the difference wa that I had a team. I had a support base. Even the God one, like, that was followed by a really bad trip and I would have totally lost it if I hadn't had someone to bring me back down from it. SO, like it or not, this is your team for this class going forward, and if you're going to be a team, you've got to get to know each other.
"So instead of standard introductions, I just want you guys to talk with each other. I want you to talk to at least three other people, preferably more, and I want you to come out of it knowing at least four things: their name, where they're from, any strengths they can bring to the table, and what weaknesses they may have. I know that last one might be the hardest for most people; it's hard to acknowledge that we have weaknesses, but it's something that can make the difference between a success and a failure, and we all have them, one way or another. I, for example," she offered, hand to her chest in this very powerful moment of vulnerability, "cannot pull off green to save my life or without looking like a goddamn Christmas tree.
"So there you go. At the end of class, we'll have a little pow-wow and share what we've learned about each other, and then, next week, we'll start getting into the good stuff and hopefully putting those things to use."
Re: Class Activity: Know Your Team - RatM, 01/04.
Re: Class Activity: Know Your Team - RatM, 01/04.
She just sort of quirked a brow.
"Definitely just a hobby," she said. "Definitely nothing to do with the lives of people I care about and millions of people I don't even know, or maybe you missed the parts about planet-destroying technology? I didn't exactly get into this business for the shits and giggles, you know. That was just a bonus, not a feature."
There was a brief pause.
"I'm going to go out on a limb and guess that you're coming from a place that's dealing with some of this shit first hand?"
Re: Class Activity: Know Your Team - RatM, 01/04.
Re: Class Activity: Know Your Team - RatM, 01/04.
"Okaaaaay," she said slowly, lifting her hands, "there's clearly a lot to unpack here, and I feel there might be some significantly misdirected anger going on here that's going to take more than just an introduction's class to get through. But, if you want to talk about it, my office is number 3, I can be there whenever you need me to, in fact, I'll be sure to be there Thursday and Friday, if you want to stop in. In the meantime...."
She trailed off a little, then cocked her head toward the door. "No one in this room is making you be here. No one is calling you a dumb sump-rat, and there's a thin line between bragging and just trying to demonstrate exprerience. I don't know exactly where you got the impression otherwise, but 'fissure trash' getting slaughtered because they don't want their kids to starve is sort of the thing I did all of that," again, she hitched her thumb toward the diagram, "to prevent. But if you'd rather just sit there and misdirect your...admittedly extremely valid, by the sounds of it...anger at people who don't even know what you're talking about..."
She shrugged, shook her head.
"No one here is going to stop you."
Re: Class Activity: Know Your Team - RatM, 01/04.
At least everyone in the class was going to be able to list 'volatile temper' as a flaw?
Re: Class Activity: Know Your Team - RatM, 01/04.
"Yaaaay," she murmured, before turning her attention back to how the other students were doing, "teamwork..."